Landon's Five!

Oh Landon ... how are you FIVE already?! This post is later than it should be ... you've been five for just over a month now, but I couldn't let another day go by without commemorating what a cool kid you are. 

On your birthday at the Phoenix Zoo!

You are our rock star, in every way. You are funny, articulate, endearing and so sweet and kind. You have your emotional moments, and every once in a while you try on a bit of "big-kid" defiance, but you always go right back to our sweet boy. And you (finally!) gave up sucking your thumb at night!!

You make friends easily and we always have a bunch of kids at our house. Almost all of your friends are a couple of years older and it's so fun to watch you interact. But what we love the most is watching you interact with Liam. Sometimes you fight and push each other's buttons, but lately you want to help him, and be his example and the way he looks up to you is so sweet. Thank you for being such a great person for him to look up to (and please don't ever stop!). 

Here is a good example: Just the other day you didn't have to take a nap. When Liam woke up you said: Liam, I didn't even have to take a nap. His reaction: "Wooooow Lanon!" (said with a reverence that is only reserved for big brothers) Liam often refers to you as "my Lanon!"

You are always up for anything. You love your play set and have mastered your two wheel bike with no training wheels. The other day you went 3 miles with us and could have gone longer!  

You LOVE playing soccer. You've gotten really good at stealing the ball away, and it's fun to watch you improve. But what we love most is that you are the heart and soul of a team - you cheer for them, you encourage them, and no matter how long you've played and how tired you look you are always the first to volunteer to go back out on the field. This spring you're going to try T-ball for the first time and we can't wait to watch you!! 

School is one of your favorite things - you are a sponge and love to learn. You are thrilled about kindergarten because you finally get to go to the big school where your friends are, but you keep trying to convince us that you might just need to go right to first grade so you can be with your friends :)! You are reading really well, and we love seeing the pride in your eyes when you master new skills. 

And you are so valiant ... you love learning about the gospel and sharing it. You are an example to all of us. Sometimes you'll bust out what you learned from a scripture story and we didn't even know you had heard it!

And the latest? I think we have an official "first crush!" There is a very cute girl next door who you've informed me a few times you are going to marry. Until last week, she wasn't aware of the plan. The two of you were coloring when she mentioned that a family member was going to be going to Washington, DC. 

You: "That's where I'm going to go on a mission!" (this is from a ward Primary Activity from last summer) "And get married in the temple! To YOU!"
Her: "Wait, what?!"
You: "Uhhhh, nevermind"

I almost died laughing, and wanted to cry at the same time. Really, you are just growing up too fast. And as I hold you on my lap, I wish you weren't growing so fast. But at the same time it is so fun to watch you grow and change. I guess, as a mom, I wish I could just hold you forever. 

We love you, Landon. You're our best FIVE years!!

Arizona 2015!

If you know Jeff, you know that he loves baseball. The Cubs (and the Diamondbacks) specifically. He used to go to Spring Training each year, and we have always said that at some point we'd take the boys down. Now that Jeff has successfully turned them both into HUGE Cardinals fans, and decided they needed to start appreciating baseball too (and see where the Cardinals play), so we headed to Arizona!

What a fun trip! It's a long drive, but we decided to spread it out a bit and see things on the way there and back to break it up and make the trip more fun.

First we drove to Kanab and spend time with Jeff's Grandpa and brother's family. Liam's in a bit of a "stranger danger" phase, so I was worried about how he might do. He hadn't seen Grandpa in a while, but he warmed right up. They loved playing in his yard, with his toys, and climbed right up on his lap and listened to him talk about Grandma (always one of the sweetest thing to hear - that's real love, folks). Liam also became quite fond of his strawberry waffle cookies :)!

Next we drove over to Page, where Jeff grew up. We showed the boys the Dam, the lake and took them out to Antelope Canyon. They are so beautiful - you have to take a tour now, but growing up Jeff and his friends would go out there all the time. Luckily he has a friend whose family owns one of the tour companies, and we got a private tour! Naturally the boys had more fun throwing sand! Before we left town we had to eat at RD's ... still delicious!!

Then we were on to Mesa. We stayed with my aunt and uncle who live down there, which is always fun. We spent time at ASU ... because (shocker!) they are ALL Sundevil's fans also and needed shirts/hats/pencils (we drew the line at the foam finger Liam kept trying to bite chunks out of). Are you getting confused at how many teams they love ... I know, it's hard for me to keep track of too!! 

We went to a Cubs game! It was SO HOT OUT! We wanted warm weather, but we weren't prepared for 90! The boys ate a hot dog, watched a couple of innings and then we went to the team shop to cool off. They were thrilled that they went to the game - they loved it! We didn't break it to them that they only made it through 4 innings - ha ha!

My aunt was so sweet and threw Landon a birthday party while we were there - I can't believe he is 5! There was a banner, pizza, cookie decorating, egg dying, an egg hunt and an ice cream cake ... and best of all presents! He was in five year old heaven!! 

On his actual birthday we went to the zoo. I'm not a huge zoo fan, normally, but the Phoenix Zoo was really, really fun! The boys loved the animals - Landon even rode a camel - twice! They had a splash pad and a carousel - both a huge hit. They loved the animals, and we fed the stingrays, which was so fun!

When Landon was riding the camel he found out his name was Isaac. He was so excited! He told the zoo worker leading him around the story of Abraham and Isaac and then sang him the Abraham verse from "Follow the Prophet." So sweet that boy!

That night Jeff and my cousin went to a Diamondbacks game and I tucked very, very tied kids into bed! 

Before leaving town we decided to tour the University of Phoenix Stadium (where the Cardinals play, of course!). The boys were in all their gear for the event! However, the tour itself was long, and pretty boring ... we didn't even get to see the Cardinal's locker room - just the visitors, or stand on the field (they pull the grass in and out). 

Then we were on to Las Vegas! 

We don't love the Las Vegas "strip" so we stayed out at Lake Las Vegas where it's a lot tamer. We went out for a big birthday breakfast (for me) and then played at the pool. That night we went down to Las Vegas for dinner and to see the Bellagio fountains and go to M&M world. 

Vegas provided us with the BEST vacation quotes from Landon. While walking around there were some girls off in the distance wearing not much more than feathers. Landon thought it was awesome ... he said, "Look at that! They must be chickens!"

Then as we were walking down to M&M world he saw some (also) scantily clad girls who had put on "bunny" ears ... no worries, innocent Landon said, "Look! It's Mickey and Minnie!"

Clearly he hasn't been to Disney Land. Ha ha!

The next day we went to Container Park. There are shops, restaurants and a huge playground in the middle, all made from recycled containers. It was fun and got out all the extra energy the boys had before we drove home! 

We had SUCH a great time! Jeff and I agreed that the best part was just being so disconnected from work and so focused on all being together and having fun. It's always hard to come home from such a fun time ... so on to planning the next trip!!